Patriots' Day 2012 Will Be Remembered as a Dark Day for Boston Sports

New England celebrates Patriots Day today for early victories in the Revolutionary War. Two-hundred and thirty-six years later, this holiday will not be Boston’s most memorable. For its sporting events, anyway.

Two of the annual traditions of Boston’s Patriots Day have already concluded, and both will be remembered for what didn’t happen.

The Boston Marathon

The Boston Marathon suffered over 4,000 deferrals for this years’ race following reports of high temperatures in the 80s.

The heat did not stop over 22,000 participants from taking part in the 26.2 mile race, but the marathon lacked some of the flair of years’ past.

Not only was attendance down at the 116^th annual race, but marathon times were as well. This year’s men's winner, Kenyan Wesley Korir, won with a time of 2 hours, 12 minutes and forty seconds, which was almost ten minutes slower than last year’s winner and the second-weakest time in over 25 years.

Boston Red Sox

It was not the proudest moment for Boston’s runners. Ditto for the hitters at Yawkey Way.

The Red Sox batters produced four hits and six total baserunners in a 1-0 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays. “Big Game James” Shields lived up to the name on Patriots Day, helping his team avoid a four-game sweep against the Red Sox.

Boston’s Daniel Bard brought his best stuff on Boston’s beloved holiday, allowing only one run in seven innings of work. It was only his second career start.

Boston Bruins

Unfortunately, the worst has yet to come for Bostonians. They can take a Red Sox loss, there’s 162 games. The marathon still happened, so that’s a victory in itself.

Boston can rebound from a tumultuous afternoon with a Bruin’s playoff win in our nation’s capital. The odds don’t look very promising. 

Their opponent, the Washington Capitals, looked like one of the Eastern Conference’s weaker seeds before postseason play. The Caps, though, have proven to be a worthy opponent for Boston, using their fledging defensive-minded style to throw off the Bruins’ expectations of them. 

Boston’s head coach Claude Julien notes the Capitals’ patience early on in this series, a characteristic unheard of from a team led by aggressive scorer Alexander Ovechkin. Perhaps Washington thrives in an underdog role better than they did at being the conference favorite that they were two years prior.

In their first postseason home game, the Washington Capitals will continue to give Boston fits. It won’t be the British coming in 2012, but Boston’s opponents will certainly be wearing red.

Those redcoats will be victorious by the end of Patriots Day. I guess there’s a first time for everything.